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The Best 35mm Film for Night Photography (How-to shoot 35mm photos at night!)

By Danny D | Last Upload on May 2nd 2022 | HOME → HOW-TO → NIGHT PHOTOGRAPHY

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35MM Film Night Photography

Even though 35mm film has been pushed to the wayside, there are still a few of us left who will dig out the Pentax K1000 for a few good film shots. For most, choosing the best film for night photography is a personal choice. The following is the best film for low light that I have personally used.

• Kodak Portra 800
• Fujifilm Natura 1600
• Cinestill film 800
• Lomography Color Negative 800

Kodak has always been my first choice, but Fujifilm comes in a very close second. Kodak was the film our school used and I liked the way it handled. Fujifilm is incredibly fast though and will give Kodak a run for its money in a darker light.

Steps for Shooting 35mm in the Dark

If you are going to shoot film at night, you’ll need the best film for low light to start with. Once you have a good night film, you can start building from there.

• Have the right lens, I use 50mm f1.8
• Aperture must be fully open.
• Use a longer exposure time.
• Avoid handheld shots.
• Increase your ISO.
• Explore silhouettes
• Bounce your flash.

Silhouettes and Flash

A silhouette photo is a good choice if you don’t want a lot of front-facing detail. Most of the detail will end up being along the edges where the contrast between light and dark will dramatically sharpen the image.

Bouncing your flash, either an external one or the built-in one that is attached to your camera, will provide you with a modest amount of front-facing light, but may detract from the detail you are trying to achieve. This is especially true if you are using black and white film.

I have found that the best part of night photography is trial and error. There is something about film photography that is intriguing. Sometimes your best shots are the mistakes you thought wouldn’t turn out. The key is remembering the mistake so you can duplicate it again!

When Shooting with a Pentax K1000 at Night

The Pentax K1000 is a better daylight camera partly due to the light meter and its inability to provide accurate direction when a scene is darker than normal. It’s best not to rely on the needle at all. You have a few options to help you with navigating in low-light shots. When there is not enough light to guide it, the needle will just float in the middle, giving you the impression that the lighting is good. It’s probably not and your shots won’t turn out. The following tips will help.

• One of the best options is to use a separate light meter. Good light meters are fairly inexpensive. Open your aperture and gauge your exposure time accordingly. For still shots, using a tripod will give you the best results.
• If you have a digital SLR camera with the same basic lens, use it as your meter and set your aperture and shutter as close to what the DSLR says as possible. If you want to explore different results vary your settings a click or two in either direction and see what you come up with.